


The Enigma of Number 4

by alisayamin (sh_04e)



Series: Lisa's Voltron Platonic Gen Fics [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura reminisces her parents and altea, Canon Universe, Cooking, Cuddling & Snuggling, Doodles, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, He doesn't get memes, Hot Chocolate, Hugs, Humor, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Keith cares for all of his friends, Laughter, Memes, Movie Night, Paladins Having Fun, Platonic Cuddling, Quintessence-sensitive Keith, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Supportive Keith, Team as Family, This is just a big fluff fest okay, Trust, Voltron Secret Santa 2k18, caring keith, oblivious paladins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-21 19:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17049020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sh_04e/pseuds/alisayamin
Summary: Pidge was already slouching with a blank look in her eyes. “Are you telling me there’s road work ahead of us?”All of a sudden, Shiro incredulously asked, “Road workahead?”Lance softly exhaled, “…oh my god.”"Uhyeah, I sure hope it does.” came the monotonous reply from Keith.“OH MY GOD”OrThere were some things about Keith that the other paladins never noticed. Some were small and some were so big, they wondered how in the world they never knew.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This lovely fic was written as a secret santa gift for [@castlestormed](https://castlestormed.tumblr.com) on Tumblr! I chose the gen paladins prompt hehe
> 
> First of all, as much as I love canon and Keith in his marmora uniform, I don't think he should have left Voltron in s4 and I'm not shy to admit that I loved the original dynamic they had going on in s1-s2. SO! I've incorporated elements from canon so this fic doesn't take place anywhere in the VLD timeline but it takes place in canon universe~ Haha! (Probably around s2 but pretend they already found Matt by then and they've encountered the Blade of Marmora)
> 
> ENJOY!!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk is very touched, Pidge is surprised (in a good way)

 

Pidge was doodling.

She had just received a lecture from her brother to get some downtime because apparently, you’re not supposed to be handling tech stuff or doing calculations every minute of your waking life. Matt had confiscated all her stuff and had convinced Allura and Coran to withhold most of the Altean tech as well.

So yeah, Pidge was doodling in a little Altean notebook Coran had found for her.

“This is stupid…” Pidge grumbled to herself. She was supposed to be installing the latest upgrade for the lions. She huffed with a pout. At least the tech ban was only until lunch.

Lunch meant she had to go to the dining room. And pick up anyone she saw along the way. It was a system they had developed after Coran caught too many of them skipping meals because of tech meddling (Pidge), training (Keith and Shiro) or even oversleeping (Lance). To be honest, out of the humans, the only one on time for meals was Hunk and that was because Hunk was usually the one preparing the meals.

After a few more doodles, lunch time came around. Pidge dropped her notebook on her work table and stood up from her chair. The last thing she doodled was a proud-looking Lance riding on Kaltenecker’s back. She snorted at it before leaving for the dining room. Pidge felt good somehow. Maybe doodling wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

 

* * *

 

Hunk had cooked up a whole Altean pot of nice hot lavender-coloured soup with chunks of… something. Coran said it was a healthy choice of protein so Hunk went with it. He was happy when it turned out tasting like a delicious chowder of some sort.

Just as he was bringing the pot to the table, the automatic door to the dining room slid open. Hunk was surprised when Keith was the first to show up in the dining room. Keith greeted him and said he was from the quarters so he didn’t pass by anyone.

“Oh that’s fine. They’ll show up eventually. You know Keith, you’re usually the last one to show up.”

Keith shrugged. “Don’t keep track of time in the simulator.” He helped himself to a bowl of the chowder and didn’t question anything before eating it.

And like usual, Keith hummed and said “It’s good.”

“I know! I used the new meat Coran got from the last planet we stopped by and milk from kaltenecker! Oh and then there was that new spice thingy from…” Hunk went on and on as Keith ate with him. Keith nodded and grunted at appropriate times and quietly gestured for a second serving after he was done. Hunk happily refilled the bowl with his chowder. Hunk noticed that even though Keith was quiet, he ate with gusto and it warmed Hunk’s heart knowing that his cooking was appreciated.

By the time the others had gathered at the dining room, Keith was already done with his meal (he had _three and a half_ servings!) and was rinsing his own bowl. 

“Done already Keith?” Shiro asked when he saw Keith emerge from the galley.

“Yeah.” He passed by the table and dropped a water packet beside Lance who was practically inhaling his food. “Don’t choke, idiot.”

Lance grumbled an incoherent statement as Keith left the dining room.

After a while of eating, Pidge frowned at Matt and Lance as they ate another round of the stew-thing. The bowls were already big and she wasn’t even sure if she could finish her first serving. She teased them out loud. “You guys have black holes in your stomachs or something.”

“They what?!” Coran and Allura shouted simultaneously.

“Oops sorry. It’s an Earth thing.”

Allura frowned. “Why blackholes?”

Pidge gave a half shrug and made an ‘I-don’t-know’ sound. “Endless pits? That’s where all the food go?”

“Oh!” Coran lit up. “You mean to say their stomach storage and appetite are bigger than regular humans!”

“…. Yeah let’s go with that.”

Hunk smiled. “Well, if anyone has a blackhole in their stomach, I’m pretty sure it’s Keith!”

That caught Shiro’s attention. “Keith? Why Keith?”

“Well, he always goes for about 3 rounds before he’s done.”

The whole table quietened and everyone was staring at Hunk in shock except Shiro who simply looked excited.

Hunk was alarmed. “Are you telling me you guys never noticed before?”

“NO!” Pidge and Lance shouted in sync.

“He didn’t want to eat anything when we were in that restaurant two quintants ago remember?” Allura asked around the table. Coran, Pidge and Lance exchanged similar instances from when Keith would outright reject food or eat just a few bites.

“Three servings? Every time?” Shiro asked Hunk with a twinkle in his eyes.

Hunk squinted at Shiro. “Am I missing something here…?”

Shiro exchanged a knowing smile with Matt before he started telling them about their days on Earth. “Keith is probably the pickiest eater I’ve ever met. He used to ask the chef at Galaxy Garrison about the food! What is this? What is that? Then when the chef got tired of answering, he’d ask me and then he started asking Matt after I introduced them.” Shiro had a nostalgic look in his eyes. “For as long as I knew him, he only ate the bare minimum. I never knew he… ate so much here.” Then realization dawned on Shiro.

The look Shiro gave Hunk was a mixture of awe, respect and happiness. “You must be doing something right if he’s eating 3 servings every time you cook.”

Hunk was not sure why his face was heating up but damn it, he was blushing so hard. Keith obviously didn’t trust food from what Shiro said. But Keith trusted Hunk’s cooking and that… That was so touching. Hunk swore never to betray that trust.

Lance broke the moment by saying, “So _that’s_ why he’s so thin! But wait. If he’s eating so much now… _WHY_ is he still so thin?!”

“Galra metabolism.” Matt and Pidge chorused.

 

* * *

 

Open doors were blanket permission to come in. Pidge knew this. Which was why she slapped her forehead as she returned from the dining room to her work room’s open door. Any of them could have entered (even the mice!) and tinkered around with her tech junk. They could’ve been blown to bits! She had explosive prototypes in there!

Hurriedly, she checked every nook to make sure nothing was misplaced. After about ten minutes, Pidge sighed in relief. Everything was accounted for. She plopped on her chair and faced her work table. She was so excited to continue working on her tech, she almost missed the one thing that did change in her room.

Pidge paused from meddling with her tech when the notebook caught her eye, the one she had been doodling in. Her last doodle should’ve been only a proud Lance riding on Kaltenecker’s back. But when she picked up the notebook, her lips started to quirk up in amusement. Riding with her doodle-Lance was a cute doodle-Allura and Kaltnecker suddenly had extra squiggly lines behind it. It reminded Pidge of the rainbow cat meme.

As funny as it was, she didn’t know who did it. Matt had left the dining room with her so he was out. Hunk was cleaning up with Coran so they were out. Allura had said she would be at the bridge to map their next destination so she was out because the bridge was in the opposite direction of Pidge’s work room. Shiro respected the boundaries of their rooms even if their doors were open so nope. That left…

Lance would definitely draw Allura if he saw Pidge’s doodle but Pidge knew what Lance’s doodles were like and _this_ … this wasn’t it which left-

“No way.”

Pidge sat still for about 10 minutes contemplating if Keith had snuck in her room, saw her doodle and added a cute doodle-Allura.

Try as she might, she could not find reasons why he would but neither could she find reasons why he would _not_.

Pidge locked her work room that night. She also doodled more because it was therapeutic (shut up Matt) and because she _needed_ to know. Before she went to her room, she tore out one of her Shiro-doodle and left it in the dining room.

She was not disappointed when she found it again the next day and her Shiro-doodle had new superman details over it. Lance would never be up so early in the morning. Pidge almost giggled at the thought of Keith doodling. She started leaving doodles everywhere. And each one she took back had random additions like sunglasses or new characters and all of them never failed to make Pidge smile. She planned to leave more and more doodles, hoping to expose and catch Keith on the act.

She never did.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enigma cracked for this chapter: Keith only eats food made by those he trusts (awwww) and he likes to doodle.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is probably in the twilight zone, Matt is a light sleeper-cuddler

 

After a sparring session with Matt under Shiro’s supervision, Keith headed for the kitchen to get a few water packets before joining all of the others in the lounge deck. He sat in between Shiro and Matt on the circular couch. He offered both of them the packets before tossing some to Pidge and Hunk who were sitting across them. 

Lance was standing with the princess and proclaiming in a serious voice, “Allura, I’d do anything for you-”

“Then perish.” Keith muttered under his breath without looking up. Shiro and Matt snorted their drinks and started choking like mad.

“-but I won’t-,“ Lance huffed and suddenly turned to look at Matt and Shiro, “How the _heck_ did you guys choke that bad?!”

Shiro was the first to recover and he started laughing out loud. Matt joined him after he had cleared his throat. Coran and Allura stared incredulously at them both.

“Is this some sort of human tradition? Do you normally laugh after having a coughing fit?”

Hunk shrugged at Coran. “Sometimes…?”

Pidge glanced at Keith and saw the ghost of a smile. She took her chances to try and call Keith out. “Gee Matt, I think you would look horrible with a mustache.”

Matt stared at his sister with a frown and a half smile – not quite knowing what she was talking about. Keith however, was sipping the straw from his water packet with a knowing smile. He would know about that of course, he was the one who doodled a mustache and a top hat on Pidge’s doodle-Matt.

“Now if you add a top hat to that look-“ Pidge raised her eyebrows and smiled at Keith. When Keith made eye contact with her, they broke. Both of them started laughing out loud.

Lance shouted “WHAT IS GOING ON-!“ And he wasn’t the only who felt that way.

Pidge wiped a tear from her eye. “Nothing. Just an inside joke.”

Keith got up and tossed the remaining water packet to Lance before leaving with a wave, still smiling.

“Keith it’s movie night tonight!” Hunk shouted after him.

The doors had closed but they still heard a distant “I know!”

 

* * *

 

Movie night served two purposes. One, to ease the homesickness because the humans missed Earth and Pidge had hundreds of movies in her drive. Two, to educate the Alteans on the beauty of the human cinematic universe.

They would gather in one of the lounge decks where Pidge had set up the monitor and connected it to her laptop. That night was adventure night so Pidge had queued The Lord of Rings. With the lights turned off, the blankets and pillows laid out, the snacks and drinks scattered, they all huddled up and watched the wall-screen.

As usual, they all fell asleep varyingly, some during the second movie and some during the third. On a normal basis, by the time they got up, Coran and Keith would be gone while the others basked in the cuddle fest. Lance, Pidge and Hunk even had a bet that Keith probably left after everyone was asleep or something. So it was totally not Lance’s fault that he caused a racket when he got up from under Hunk’s arm and Pidge’s leg to pee long after the third movie ended, because not only was Keith there but—

“What are you doing?!” Lance whisper-shouted.

Keith lifted his head from his very comfortable pillow but could only crane his neck just a little because Shiro’s arm was on his upper back and he was half sleeping on Matt. Keith made a non-committal questioning grunt to Lance.

“Youre-! You’re _cuddling_..!”  

“Lance.” Keith blinked lazily. “Really?”

Lance sputtered incoherently before whisper-shouting again, “When-! How-! _You’re cuddling_!” He emphasized with his flailing hands.

For a moment, Keith looked over at every other person (yes Coran too) under warm blankets cuddling with each other and then just looked back at Lance with a flat look.

Very slowly, Lance stressed out, “Who are you. And what have you done to Keith.”

“Why is this such a big deal to you?”

“Cuz _you don’t cuddle_!”

Suddenly Matt groggily said, “Actually.” He even had his forefinger pointing up but his eyes were still closed. “..this been since.. mmrh.. fourth year..?”

Keith scoffed. “Go back to sleep, idiot.”

Lance watched Keith smile at Matt as the older teen started to happily burrow himself under the blanket and snuggling Keith closer. And all Lance could think of saying was, “How come you don’t cuddle with us?”

Keith still had the ghost of his smile on his face. “Do you want me to?”

Lance bit his bottom lip. Was this a trick question? Was this even real? _Keith_ was _cuddling_. Okay maybe it wasn’t such a farfetched concept but _still_. Lance looked Keith in the eye and announced, “Next movie night, you’re cuddling with me, Pidge and Hunk.”

Keith didn’t even look bothered. He just mumbled what sounded like an agreement and then dropped his head back on his pillow.

After Lance came back from his bathroom break, Keith had rolled over, Shiro was spooning him and Matt was hugging Keith from the front.

 

* * *

 

Lance woke up and Keith was gone from between Shiro and Matt. It made him wonder if Keith cuddling was just a dream. 

Aside from that weird lifelike dream, Lance was starting to realize something but he wasn’t sure what. Was it always there? He was suddenly noticing how Pidge and Keith communicated with just their eyes or fingers from across rooms. He noticed how sometimes Matt and Shiro would laugh at something Keith said even if it was just one word. He finally saw that _yes_ , Keith ate three servings of everything Hunk made. How..? _Where_ did he put all that food?! And he actually listened to everything Hunk said in his food rants.

Lance took out his frustrations in the training room sometime later that week. He had activated his bayard into a broadsword and could finally swing his irritation away. Why didn’t he ever notice these things with Keith? When did Keith become so… friendly with everyone?

After a particularly hard swing and a harsh grunt, Lance felt someone else hold the grip of his sword with him.

“You’re holding it wrong.”

Lance panted with wide eyes as he saw Keith standing beside him. “DUDE!” He jumped away from Keith more out of surprise than offense. “Personal space! Do I need to get a bell for you?!”

Keith cocked his head to the side. “What would I need a bell for?”

“Nothing.” Lance sighed as he wiped his face with one hand. “What are you doing here? If you want to use the training room, you gotta wait your turn.”

“You’re missing dinner.”

Lance gaped. “Are you serious? Huh. That’s how you always miss meals huh?”

Keith nodded.

“One more round.”

“Only if you hold that sword right.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Fine, oh mighty sword bearer, teach me your wise ways.”

Keith didn’t bother with a retort. He just slipped right back into Lance’s personal space and fixed the position of Lance’s hands and his stance. Grudgingly, Lance found it much easier to swing the sword after that. He defeated the laser bots in half the time he did before. And to his surprise, Keith stayed until the end of his training simulation.

Lance whooped at his record time and put his bayard away. “I’m going for a showe-“

His sentence was cut short because Keith was pulling him by the neck of his shirt in the other direction. “Dinner first. You’ll just fall asleep after a shower.”

Lance wiggled out of Keith’s grip and muttered, “’Course you’d know that.”

They were still on time for dinner. Lance didn’t say it but he was sort of grateful that Keith still followed the pick-up system. He would think, out of all them, Keith would be the least bothered about it. But having Keith wait for him in the training room proved otherwise.

 

* * *

 

The next time Lance trained so late, he missed dinner. Pidge had come to pick him up but she didn’t wait past 10 minutes and Lance got carried away with the new training level he achieved earlier.

He trotted to the kitchen 2 vargas after dinner was over. The kitchen was quiet but it was still lit. Lance curiously peeked inside and was shocked to see Keith there.

Keith gave him a stern look and then got up from the dining table. He disappeared into the kitchen and came out with a plate of something delicious-looking. Hunk probably tried a new recipe today. Keith put the plate on the table, pulled Lance to sit down where he previously sat and crossed his arms. He stared down at Lance. “Eat.”

Lance dumbly obeyed. Keith went back to the kitchen and brought back two water packets. Keith left soon after that. And Lance was left to contemplate what had happened as he mechanically cleared off his plate of food.

 

* * *

 

Even after a good night sleep, Lance still felt… like he was in the twilight zone or something. He sat with Pidge and Allura the next day at the dining table. Shiro and Keith were the only ones still missing.

Hunk was helping Coran scoop up scrambled… green eggs onto plates when he noticed Lance. “Dude! You missed dinner!”

“Oh. Yeah.” Lance answered in a daze. “Keith fed me though.”

Pidge huffed. “Did he scold you too?”

Lance frowned. “Is this a normal thing?”

“Oh of course!” Allura clapped her hands. “He’s very particular about meals. Keith explained to me about the human body’s needs for nutrients! I caught him scolding Shiro and Pidge alternatively every time they missed meals!”

“Urgh..” Matt groaned. “Yeah he’s been doing that since the garrison. Trust Keith to shove a vegie meat pie down our throats during finals!”

The garrison. That time after movie night… Matt had said something about ‘since fourth year’. Which meant that… cuddle Keith was not a dream. Cuddle Keith had smiled at Matt and told him to go back to sleep. That was when Lance had an epiphany.

_Keith tossed a towel to his face after a spar. “Go shower, you stink.”_

_Keith passed by the table and dropped a water packet beside Lance who was practically inhaling his food. “Don’t choke, idiot.”_

_Keith being the first to ask “Is everyone okay?” after the lions get hit._

_“LANCE!” Keith shouted in warning when he saw a droid aiming its gun at Lance._

_Keith grabbing his hand. “You’re holding it wrong.”_

_“You’re missing dinner.”_

_Keith staring down at Lance. “Eat.”_

Lance slammed his palms on the table. “Oh my god. Keith’s a mother hen isn’t he?”

“Morning…” Shiro mumbled from the doorway. “Sorry we’re late.”

Matt made a questioning sound. “What happened?”

Keith entered the dining room with a scowl. “His shoulder was acting up again and _he didn’t tell anyone._ ” He purposely emphasized and hissed the last part of the sentence with a glare towards a sheepish Shiro.

“I thought it’d be fine in a few hours.”

Keith looked so done but he sat down without another word, right across Lance who was staring at Keith with wide eyes.

“Umm..” Keith lifted an eyebrow. “Something on my face?”

“No. No, you’re good.” Lance nodded to himself. “We’re good.”

Keith still looked confused but he let it go.

“Movie night’s tonight.” Lance spoke up.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Is the cuddle deal still on the table?”

Keith frowned at Lance with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”

That night, Keith hugged Pidge to his chest and snuggled in between Lance and Hunk.

Lance softly whispered, “Twilight zone.”

Pidge had a blank look on her face because Keith had his chin on her head? He was hugging her? What was going on? Meanwhile Hunk just happily cuddled with all of them.

When morning came, Matt happily showed them a picture of their cuddle fest Coran had taken. In it, Keith was sleeping and snuggling between Lance, Pidge and Hunk. Keith was on his back, Pidge practically sleeping on top of him, Lance was snuggled to Keith’s side with Keith’s left arm as his pillow and Hunk was on Keith’s right, hugging both Pidge and Keith. Keith looked… perfectly content with where he was. That was when Pidge and Lance finally accepted the reality in which Keith would gladly hug and cuddle all of them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enigma cracked for this chapter: Keith is a mother hen and he is very receptive to hugs and cuddles.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura and Coran are more cared for than they realize. Shiro loves sushi rolls in all its forms.

 

The Castle of Lions was always quiet since it was a big castle-ship and housed only about 10 occupants. But on one particular day, the quiet of the castle was somber. There was a sadness that clung inside the walls and everyone felt it. They tried to ignore it at first especially after seeing a cheerful Coran running around with a toolbox to fix various rooms of the castle.

But after Allura missed both breakfast and lunch, they all approached Coran who was… fixing something in the lounge deck.

Lance spoke on everyone’s behalf. “Coran? Is Allura okay?”

Coran’s smile faltered. He sighed and placed one of the Altean screwdrivers back in his toolbox. “I’d be lying if I said yes.” The elder Altean sighed again as he stood up to face the group of curious humans. “I’m certain all of you have felt the… castle’s mood.”

“Hard not to.” Pidge grumbled.

Coran frowned and looked down as though he wasn’t certain what to say. “The castle is somewhat sentient. Pop-pop built it that way. It registers events throughout its lifespan. And on this quintant ten thousand years ago… Altea was destroyed. King Alfor had passed as well.”

“…oh. Coran, we’re so sorry.”

“None of you are at fault. I handle grief by fixing everything pop-pop built but Allura… She’s still in the castle but I’m not certain where she is. I don’t think she wants to be found right now.” Coran suddenly smiled with a little too much force. “But! Rest assured, the princess is safe! She’ll be as cheerful as a well fed klanmüirl in a few vargas, I’m sure!”

Coran promptly picked up his tool box and left the lounge deck, leaving the humans to stew in their thoughts.

Matt finally sighed. “We can’t leave him alone. C’mon.” He nudged his sister and they both followed after Coran.

Lance flailed his arms. “Great! And Allura’s missing! If anyone’s looking for me, I’ll be prepping for spa day.” He left the lounge deck.

Hunk followed after Lance with a “I’ll be making the hot chocolates!” They had found something similar to cocoa after helping the Damask people. It tasted just as good as the ones from Earth.

And so, that left Shiro and Keith.

Shiro looked to Keith with raised eyebrows. “I know that face.”

“What face?” Keith asked innocently.

Shiro poked Keith’s forehead. “That one. Bring the blanket we use for movie nights. It might work. I know you love being a burrito during that time of the year.”

Keith playfully punched Shiro’s arms. They parted after Shiro said he was going to catch up with Matt and Pidge to keep Coran company. Later, Keith ended up taking the blanket Shiro mentioned and he was planning to stop by the kitchen when he ran into Lance wearing a bathrobe.

“Where you going with the blanket?”

“…somewhere?”

Lance sighed sadly. “Look Keith, when you find her- I know you’re going after Allura and I don’t know what you’re going to do but-“ He looked hopefully to Keith. “Tell her I’m here, okay? Maybe a spa day would be good for her.”

Keith had half expected Lance to insist he followed but instead he just wanted to ‘be there’ for Allura. Maybe a spa day really _would_ be good for the princess if Lance wouldn’t push her to talk or anything. So, Keith nodded to Lance; a silent promise to pass the message. And that was good enough for Lance as he nodded back and walked away without saying anything else.

Continuing his mission, Keith dropped by the kitchen for a flask of Hunk’s hot chocolate and finally began to hunt down the Altean princess.

He knew he had an innate sense that he could never explain. Keith had... a detector inside him. He could feel things others couldn’t and he was well aware of it – the blue lion on Earth, finding his own lion on Sendak’s ship, following the druid into that room filled with liquid quintessence and many more… instinctual incidences. After meeting the Alteans and the Blade of Marmora, Keith wondered if his ability had something to do with his own mixed up race.

Sometimes he couldn’t control it and sometimes he could. That was how he eventually tracked down Allura in the vast castle-ship. The princess’ energy was easy to detect if Keith really tried to find her. She was behind a door that was not lit, thus could not be accessed via the keypad. Keith shrugged. He could get creative when he wanted to. It wouldn’t be the first time he went inside the vents.

Of course, dragging a heavy blanket and a flask of hot chocolate proved to be a challenge but Keith was anything but a quitter.

 

* * *

 

Allura hugged her knees closer. It was a little chilly in the observation lounge without the lights and temperature regulator turned on. But it was necessary to turn everything off for the door to malfunction. She just wanted… quiet. The observation lounge she was in was her parents’ favourite. It was the biggest one and had the biggest windows that showed the immense span of space. The stars that shone through the windows casted soft light throughout the room. Allura loved it.

She was sitting on the back of the couch that was facing away from the windows. And it felt safe for her grieving heart. Stargazing was the last thing she had done with both her parents, a few days before the Galra invasion.

The princess was not aware of how long she sat there, simply watching the distant stars and planets pass by. There were in the Prenil solar system, filled with colourful glittering specks. She was so deep in her observation, she did not hear the vent in the room being kicked open.

Next thing she knew, someone was dropping a blanket around her shoulders. Allura looked up in surprise to see Keith getting ready to sit down next to her. He said nothing. He merely adjusted the blanket until Allura was practically wrapped in it. It was… nice. Comforting. Allura felt a little heavy, in a good way. Keith made her lean back against the couch. Then he uncapped a flask and poured some hot drink into the flask cup. He offered it to her (pressed it into her hands) and finally sat back.

Still in a bit of a confused daze, she drank. And the sweetness from it filled her empty stomach. Allura sighed in bliss. It was so warm.

Keith still said nothing.

But his silence meant everything to Allura. He _knew_. She didn’t know how but he knew. Keith knew grief. He had lost someone too and he was… comforting her?

Allura looked to him and asked softly. “Why?”

How did he find her? What was he doing? _Why was he here?_

Keith was looking at the stars when he answered, “Because,” Then he looked to her with understanding in his eyes. “No one should be alone.”

That word struck a chord inside Allura.

…Alone… She wanted to be alone, yes but… She didn’t want to.

Keith uncharacteristically lifted his arm and put it around Allura’s shoulders. As doboshes went by, they both pretended as though Allura wasn’t practically in Keith’s arms, crying her eyes out.

When the princess finally ran out of tears, Keith helpfully said, “Lance is having a spa day by the way.”

Allura let out a soft wet laugh. Of course he was. And she would love to join him later. But for one more varga, she chose to sit in silence with Keith, where she could effortlessly grieve. The chocolate drink had gone cold in Allura’s hold but it was still delicious and heartwarming.

“Thank you, Keith.”

Keith nodded curtly in response.

Curiously, Allura asked while tugging her blanket to savour the warmth, “Did Shiro do _this_ for you?”

Keith shook his head. “Worse. He rolled me up in a blanket and aggressively hugged the sadness out of me.”

This time, her laugh was loud and hearty.

When Keith eventually brought Allura to Lance, Lance had looked to her and offered her a hug with a kind smile. He didn’t say anything when she tightly embraced him or when he felt something warm and damp on his shoulder. When they finally parted, Lance wiped her tears away and easily switched to his usual self.

Keith grudgingly stayed when Allura insisted. He let Lance apply a weird paste on their faces and kept it on for one whole varga. Hunk joined them sometime during the waiting period and both he and Lance started playing with Allura’s hair. Their laughter (not Keith’s) could be heard from the corridors and that was how Matt, Shiro, Coran and Pidge found them eventually.

Coran had dropped his toolbox and hugged Allura dearly. The princess giggled and hugged him back. There were no tears that time. As they all settled in the bathroom of all places, Shiro sat down next to Keith and nudged him. “You did good.”

Keith nudged him back. “I had a good teacher.”  

Shiro smiled proudly at Keith. Then his face morphed into a worried one. “Did you roll her up in the blanket like I did to you?”

Keith flatly replied, “See, that’s why you’re a ‘good’ teacher, not the ‘best’.” He rolled his eyes. “And no, I didn’t turn her into a sushi roll like you did to me.”

Shiro laughed. “You liked it.”

“If it was anyone else-“

“But it wasn’t.”

Keith huffed. No, it wasn’t. And yes, Keith did like it. Not because he got turned into a makizushi, but because Shiro had _cared_ and he hadn’t said anything. He just rolled Keith up and hugged him for hours. Where once Keith had spent the day alone, Shiro had made sure he was there for Keith.

Allura’s laughter caught Keith’s attention as he turned to see her smiling at Matt and Pidge. Lance and Hunk were still braiding her hair and Coran was poking the paste on Allura’s face. Keith smiled. All that mattered was that they were there for her and Coran, just like how Shiro was there for Keith.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enigma cracked for this chapter: Keith cares (A LOT) and knows how to handle others who are grieving cuz he'd been grieving for his parents during most of his adolescent years.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith doesn't get what's so funny about it. And he probably never will.

 

Shiro rarely woke up with phantom pains around his shoulder but when he did, Keith just seemed to know. He’d be there with the cream Matt brought back from the rebels and would help massage it until the pain eased to a dull ache.

Scary? Yes. Endearing? Also yes. Shiro never asked how Keith knew. He just accepted it. The same way he accepted how Keith knew how to find him no matter where he was. Shiro wished he could do the same for Keith. As it was, everyone was in the lounging deck that Shiro had just entered and Keith was nowhere to be seen.

Before Shiro could ask, Matt was grabbing him by his arms and practically screaming. “SHIRO! Lance is saying Keith doesn’t know about memes! _MEMES!_ ”

Shiro chuckled at the irony of it all.

Lance gestured to Shiro. “See?! Even Shiro thinks it’s ridiculous!”

Matt defended himself. “Yeah! Ridiculous that _you_ think Keith doesn’t know memes!”

Lance crossed his arms and looked to Shiro for justification. “Shiro?”

Shiro smiled and nodded to Matt. “Keith is a meme lord.”

“WHAT?!”

Pidge was already shaking her head. “Uh-uh. Nope. See, Keith can doodle yes. And sometimes he doodles memes but he’s _not_ a meme lord.”

Hunk agreed. “Yeah it’s kinda unlikely.”

Matt pointed his forefinger at each of them. “Mark my words all of you-“

Shiro placed a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Calm down, they’ve never heard him before. He’s never said it loud enough.”

Lance was frowning. “Said _what_?”

Suddenly, the alarm blared and they all rushed to the bridge of the castle-ship. Shiro was in immediate commander mode. “What’s the matter, princess?”

Allura was in the center of the room, creating a wormhole. “There’s been a distress signal! I’m creating a wormhole! You must get to your lions!”

Just then, a wet and dripping Keith entered the room.

“And where have _you_ been?!” Lance asked in annoyance.

Keith pointed to his dripping bangs with a deadpan look as though it was obvious. “Swimming pool.”

“We’re here!” Allura announced.

Coran approached the paladins to usher them into the high speed chutes to access their lions. “Well Number 4, you’ll have to dry up first!”

Keith ignored the command and simply said, “I’ll dry up on the way down.” The chutes were long enough and if he zip-lined without his paladin armour, he could dry up before he reached his lion.

Coran made a sound of acknowledgement. “Technically that would work, yes.”

Shiro smiled and ruffled Keith’s wet hair for good measure. “Let’s go then.”

That was all the encouragement they needed. With a small goodbye to Matt, they each entered their respective chutes and elevator.

 

* * *

 

In their lions, the paladins charted a course to the planet’s atmosphere.

Allura and Coran promptly popped up in a small screen on their monitors. **“Paladins! This planet has their own designated pathway to enter. You would not be able to pass through their barrier.”**

And then Matt squeezed in. **“Actually, you could. I mean, Voltron could but that’s just rude.”**

Hunk hummed in thought. “So they have their own what? Space road? That’s awesome!”

Shiro led all of them to the available space road and piloted slowly on a wide translucent pathway that floated in space. It led to a small entrance on the planet’s sparkling blue barrier. The large space road slowly reduced in size as they reached the entrance. Part way through, the road became a tunnel and after a few ticks, all the lions were stopped and a huge holographic signage appeared.

Pidge was already sending the data to the castle-ship. “What does it say, Matt?”

 **“Just a tick.”** Matt took a few ticks to decipher the letters with Coran before he finally said, **“Well, the sign says that repairs are being made and the pathway is being… pasted? I’m guessing there’s a gap somewhere on the space road and they’re trying to fix it.”**

Pidge was already slouching with a blank look in her eyes. “Are you telling me there’s road work ahead of us?”

All of a sudden, Shiro incredulously asked, “ _Road work_ ahead?”

Lance softly exhaled, “…oh my god.”

“Uh _yeah_ , I sure hope it does.” Keith replied monotonously.

“ _OH MY GOD_ ” Lance shouted. His gobsmacked face appeared on Keith’s monitor to express how utterly shocked he was. (Hunk and Pidge were in a similar state but silent)

Keith frowned and shrugged at Lance. “What?”

“YOU MEMED. _YOU_ -“ Lance gestured wildly towards Keith. “- _MEMED_!”

Matt and Shiro smugly proclaimed in sync, “Told you.”

“All this time…” Lance spaced out. “Every time they laughed. It was because you meme-d wasn’t it? Oh my _god_!”

 **“What’s going on?”** Allura asked in confusion.

Matt answered, **“They didn’t believe Keith’s a meme lord.”**

 **“Oh a lord! What a high title!”** Coran exclaimed excitedly.

**“No Coran, not _that_ lord.”**

Hunk and Pidge started shouting alongside Lance. What was mainly heard were: “KEITH!” “YOU MEME!” “MEME LOOOOOORD”

Keith looked bored and annoyed at the same time. “Please stop talking.” He didn’t know how to tell them that he never actually understood what the heck memes were. He knew _of_ them though and had most of them memorized based on repetition from everyone around him on Earth. And also because Shiro found it extremely amusing every time Keith would recite a meme back to him even though Keith never quite got the intonations right.

After more bewildered shouting and questions from Hunk, Lance, Pidge, Allura and Coran (which Keith blatantly ignored), the signage finally disappeared and they were allowed to move forward.

Once they reached the planet, things became a little anticlimactic. The distress signal was sent due to an underground infestation of termite-looking things. The residents were afraid that the creatures would eventually eat up their planet. The paladins were led by the locals to the biggest visible entrance to the underground base of the termite-looking things.

Pidge dispatched a mini droid into the hole to map out the giant anthill before addressing everyone (including the holographic Matt, Allura and Coran on Shiro’s wrist), “So. Any ideas?”

Lance smirked. “Let’s pour hot water in it.”

“We don’t have hot water, Lance. Or the time to prep it.”

“Awh.” Lance deflated.

Hunk shrugged. “Why not go boom?”

Pidge nodded slowly with an impressed face. “Why not? I can make one in a few minutes.”

Being the voice of reason, Shiro stopped them. “We are _not_ building a bomb.”

Coran cleared his throat. **“Actually. Those vile creatures are davixets! They can only be exterminated with either an extreme source of heat or light. It needs to be instantaneous or they will be able to reproduce by splitting themselves endlessly!”**

Matt looked to Pidge and she looked to him. Then they both looked to Shiro.

“Bomb yes?” Pidge smiled and pleaded hopefully with her fingers entwined and head tilted.  

Shiro closed his eyes, sighed tiredly and pinched the bridge of his nose. “…bomb yes.”

Gleefully, Pidge started constructing the bomb from the stuff in her backpack while Keith and Lance evacuated the nearby locals. And with Hunk’s help, Pidge managed to build a powerful bomb in a cylindrical canister that would detonate from a single push of a button.

After the bomb was complete, Allura announced, **“I’ve mapped out the underground tunnel from your droid. How far is your bomb’s blast radius?”**

“Eh. 500 meters?”

Shiro’s bulging eyes made Pidge reiterate. “Joking joking. About 100 meters, princess.” She then muttered softly to herself, “… _at least_ a 100 meters…”

 **“How far is a 100 meters?”** Allura asked off-screen to Matt. Matt converted the value and showed her. **“Oh! That’s perfect then. It should get rid of all the davixets and any traces of their tunnels!”**

With the area finally cleared, the paladins activated their jetpacks and flew above the visible entrance of the termite creatures. The entrance looked like a giant anthill but it had a huge hole in the middle at the top. That was their target.

The plan was, after the bomb was thrown, all the paladins would fly out of radius and detonate it from afar. Then they would have Allura, Matt and Coran scan the planet for any more davixets to ensure they got every single one.

As they hovered over the hole, Pidge held the small bomb in her hand and smirked. Out of nowhere, she shouted, “This bitch empty!” And quickly passed the bomb to Keith.

Keith rolled his eyes but threw the bomb into the hole anyway with a “Yeet!”

Lance, Hunk, Pidge and Matt were howling with laughter. Shiro was laughing too but he still had common sense to drag them away from the blast radius so that Pidge could actually detonate the bomb. And even after she did, the laughter never died. Allura and Coran started laughing too because it was so infectious. Keith was the only one who wasn’t laughing because he just _didn’t get it._

The underground base of the davixets exploded with some of the paladins laughing maniacally in the sky. While the locals were thankful of Voltron for getting rid of the davixets and the beautiful crater they now had, they did not hide how terrified they were of the paladins after that fateful day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enigma cracked for this chapter: _MEMES_
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I hope it was enjoyable~


End file.
